Matt's Bar

Matt’s Bar has only one claim to fame: According to legend, it in this establishment’s hallowed kitchen that the famous cheese-stuffed ode to arteriosclerosis known as the Jucy Lucy hamburger was invented (and yes, that’s how they spell “Juicy.”) Indeed, Matt’s official motto is: “Fear the cheese!” For this reason, and this reason only, Matt’s has become a south Minneapolis icon, a place where late-night carnivores gather to sample the original JL and swig it down with a pitcher of MGD or Bud. Inside, Matt’s is a bar that looks like it was furnished in the Twilight Zone, with red naugahyde booths, fat-cushion bar stools, cafeteria-style tables, plenty of neon beer signs, and a plastic mustard squirter at every table. Beer and food is all they serve, and it’s one of the cheapest places in town—so go hungry and go with friends, if only so that you can say that you too have visited this historic gastronomical landmark.